Electric
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Late last year, a small Chinese company achieved a milestone: It offered the world's first mass-produced plug-in hybrid vehicle for sale. BYD Automotive, of Shenzhen, started selling its 2009 BYD F3DM (for "dual mode") compact sedan in December. So how's it been doing? Not too well. BYD said it hoped ultimately to sell 2000 F3DMs a month but it has sold less than 100 of the cars in the eight months it's been on sale, according to reports from Chinese auto-industry news service Gasgoo. Not ready for primetime While BYD beat General Motors to the punch, GM isn't too worried. Its 2011...
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VIDEO: Electric 1957 Porsche 356 Speedster ReplicaSure, Porsche is planning an electric vehicle, but it won't be in showrooms for years, and it probably won't ever be as charming as this 1957 Porsche 356 Speedster. If a carbon neutral vintage Porsche replica turns you on, check out this eBay listing posted by Jack Rickard. Jack is an EV...
Robert Scardino -
Driving Electric To Cost No More Than Using Gas, Says Better PlaceDriving a mile on electricity always costs less than using gasoline for the same mile. Now Better Place, the consortium wiring Israel with electric-car recharging stations and battery quick-swap facilities, has upped the ante: They claim their electric cars will cost $4,500 to $7,500 less than...
John Voelcker -
Final Aptera 2e Styling Leaked, We Drive the Electric 3-WheelerTo green-car fans, the idea of an ultra-aerodynamic electric two-seater sounds pretty familiar, right? Think the late, lamented EV1 from General Motors, subject of the controversial documentary, Who Killed the Electric Car? But for more than 4,000 people who've put down deposits on the 2011 Aptera...
John Voelcker -
Fisker Joins Tesla In Getting Government Cash For Hybrid Luxury SedanThe U.S. Department of Energy yesterday approved a $529 million low-interest loan to Fisker Automotive, which will start building its 2010 Fisker Karma plug-in hybrid luxury sports sedan later this year. Customer deliveries will start next May. In June, Tesla Motors received a $465 million loan for...
John Voelcker -
Infrastructure Hurdles Hinder Mini E TrialBeing a pioneer isn't easy. Just ask BMW North America CEO, Jim O'Donnell. As the German automaker continues to test 450 electric Minis (aptly called Mini Es) in New York, New Jersey and L.A., creating the charging network has proven challenging. "We are learning a heck of a lot just about the...
Robert Scardino -
French carmaker Renault, whose partner Nissan recently unveiled its 2012 Nissan Leaf compact electric hatchback, showed no fewer than four separate electric-car concepts at the 2009 Frankfurt Auto Show. All labeled ZE for "zero emissions", they are: Twizy ZE: A tandem two-seater with performance equivalent to a 125cc motorcycle. Zoe ZE: A small coupe with aggressive styling, meant for daily driving. Fluence ZE: An electric version of Renault's new midsize 5-seat family sedan. Kangoo ZE: An electric version of the company's subcompact urban delivery van. Each of them uses a variation of...
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Full Details: Audi e-Tron Electric Supercar, Competition for Tesla?Yesterday we brought you the first images of the Audi e-Tron concept car from the Frankfurt Auto Show. Now, we have all the technical details of this stunning supercar propelled purely by electrons. Until now, all we knew was that the e-Tron was based on the regular R8 sports car, with the side...
John Voelcker -
Frankfurt Auto Show: Is VW's E-Up Electric Car the Next Beetle?With the Frankfurt Auto Show now underway, Volkswagen came out with both guns blazing to underscore its green-car credentials. The latest VW concept is the E-Up, a battery electric version of its Up mini-car, with 80 miles of range. It follows the L1, an ultra-high-mileage diesel two-seater that...
John Voelcker -
GreenCarReports: 2009 Frankfurt Auto Show CoverageIt's time: the 2009 Frankfurt Auto Show is upon us, and High Gear Media is live at the biggest, hottest Messe in the world to bring you the latest on green cars, diesels, electric cars, hybrid electric vehicles, E-REVs, and NEVs right here at GreenCarReports.com. We've previewed the Frankfurt show...
John Voelcker -
Audi’s R8 E-Tron Concept Breaks CoverVisually, the biggest difference between the regular R8 and the 2009 e-Tron is the electric version’s concealed bodywork.
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Want To Go Even Greener? Power Your Prius on...Algae ?!?!?There's something about the Toyota Prius that makes people want to modify it. Maybe it's the Hybrid Synergy Drive system, maybe it's the electric running, maybe it's even the car's shape. We're not quite sure. Now, joining the growing parade of Prius plug-in conversions (whether professional or...
John Voelcker -
While literally hundreds of Toyota Prius owners have laid down thousands of dollars (in some cases, tens of thousands) by now for plug-in conversions, Toyota has proceeded slowly. Now it is showing what it says is the final version of its prototype Toyota Prius Plug-In Hybrid at the Frankfurt Motor Show two weeks hence, one in a flurry of green concepts to be shown there. At first, for fleets only But don't get your hopes up of walking into your Toyota dealer next year and placing an order. The plans for this first factory-built plug-in Prius are very modest. Only about 500 vehicles will be...
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Toyota Prius Plug-In To Launch at Frankfurt Auto ShowToyota will show the final version of its prototype Toyota Prius Plug-In Hybrid at the Frankfurt Motor Show two weeks hence, trying to keep up with the flurry of electric, hybrid, and diesel concepts to be shown there. With numerous concepts from German automakers, and GM pulling out all the...
John Voelcker -
Diversion: Electric Car Video By They Might Be GiantsHonestly, this post has very little to do with new cars for sale today. Instead, think of it another piece of green propaganda encouraging you to consider buying an emissions-free electric car when they start to enter the market in 2011 or thereabouts. The experimental alt-rock band They Might Be...
John Voelcker -
BMW's Newest, Greenest Concept: Vision EfficientDynamicsBMW's legendary M series performance cars use big, brawny, turbocharged gasoline engines. The 2009 BMW M5, for example, has a 500-horsepower, 5.0-liter V-10. How many cylinders ??? Where ??? But the concept car BMW will unveil in two weeks at the Frankfurt Motor Show promises "the performance of an...
John Voelcker -
Electric-Car Maker Think Emerges From Bankruptcy, Plans US SalesWe've always had a soft spot for Think, the Norwegian electric-car company. From its start in 1991, it set out to build not just battery-powered vehicles, but electric cars that could be used on highways and pass all safety tests in any country. That sets it apart from the scores of EV companies...
John Voelcker -
Are Carmaker Sites Using Hybrids (Ineptly) As Spam Bait?We get a lot of spam. Everyone gets a lot of spam. In fact, Symantec says nine of every 10 e-mail messages are spam. But we're scratching our head over a recent spam that uses the topic of hybrid cars, particularly clumsily, to link (via Dubai, no less) to real carmakers' hybrid, diesel, and...
John Voelcker -
Just two weeks ago, we reported that GM's first plug-in hybrid vehicle--originally meant to be a Saturn Vue before GM decided to sell Saturn to Pennske--would become a Buick crossover. My, how quickly things change in the new Internet world. As GM said Wednesday on its Fastlane blog, "not all the feedback was positive." Twitter: #Vuick #Fail! In fact, the idea of quickly renaming the former Saturn Vue as a Buick--by changing the grille and some trim--"received consistent feedback from large parts of all the audiences that it didn’t fit the premium characteristics that customers have come...
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Poetry In Motion? It's the 2010 Tesla Model S Electric SedanBack in April, GreenCarReports.com was lucky enough to get a ride in the world's only running version of the 2012 Tesla Model S electric sedan. It happened at the car's New York City preview, the first time since its unveiling in an LA rocket factory that it was seen in public. Now, a prototype of...
John Voelcker -
Why is the 2011 Chevrolet Volt NOT a Hybrid?Even after 10 years, hybrid-electric vehicles are still foreign to large parts of the car-buying public. People aren't sure if they're worth the money, they worry that the battery may need replacing, and some still don't understand that you don't need to plug in a hybrid. Well, brace yourselves...
John Voelcker -
2011 Chevrolet Volt: Talk About Limited Production ...If you're one of the tens of thousands of green car fans excited about the launch of the 2011 Chevrolet Volt electric car, start making nice to your local Chevy dealer. Because the number of Volts built is going to be very, very low for at least its first year of production. Despite excitement over...
John Voelcker -
How Does The 2011 Chevy Volt Get 230 MPG? By Making AssumptionsUPDATE: GM confirms that the 2011 Chevrolet Volt will get 230 mpg city, and a composite fuel economy (city and highway) of more than 100 mpg according to draft regulations being developed at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). If the rumors are correct, this morning General Motors CEO Fritz...
John Voelcker -
Want To Build Your Own Plug-In Hybrid? New Book Tells You HowWhile many US car buyers are still getting used to the idea of hybrid electric vehicles like the 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid or the 2010 Toyota Prius, a new variation is barreling down the pike: the plug-in hybrid electric vehicle, or PHEV. A plug-in hybrid uses a larger battery pack to allow the car...
John Voelcker